Treatment of experimental adenocarcinomas by percutaneous intratumoral injection of absolute ethanol

Percutaneous injection of absolute ethanol into adenocarcinomas implanted in the hind leg of rats was evaluated as a potential cancer treatment. Intramuscular alcohol injections up to 10 mL/kg produced a local dose-dependent coagulation necrosis followed by granulation tissue formation and subsequent fibrosis but no apparent systemic side effects. Compared with controls, intratumoral alcohol injections induced partial to complete tumor necrosis, reduced the tumor growth rate, and caused complete tumor eradication in 25% of the cases. The therapeutic effects of the investigated dosages of 0.5 and 1.5 mL ethanol per tumor were similar, but the local side effects (fistulizations and/or neurologic damage) were increased with the larger dose. This preliminary investigation suggests that the percutaneous intratumoral injection of alcohol deserves further exploration for the treatment of cancers.